Presidency: God will decide my political future, says Umahi

Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi on Wednesday said that only God will decide his next destination after leaving office as the state’s governor in 2023.

Umahi made the declaration in Abakaliki while reacting to speculations making the rounds that he was eying the federal level with the aim of replicating his infrastructural strides at the national level.

Umahi had inspected some on-going projects across the state including the new Ebonyi Airport, the International Shopping Mall and the new EXCO Chamber, after which a newsman threw in the question.

The governor said that he had done a lot of work since assuming the mantle of leadership of the state and ‘will want to rest’ after leaving office.

“I have worked so hard from my youth, even harder for the government but it is up to God to decide whether to rest or not at the end of my tenure.

“God is on my mind. Where He wants me to go, I will go and what He wants me to do, I will do.

“I keep saying that leadership is about the fear of God, passion to work for the people and the realisation that this is a transitional camp which we will all leave sooner or later,” he said.

Umahi said that he embarked on monumental projects to enhance the people’s wellbeing and correct the wrong notion about the state which made people to ‘look down’ on it.

“We want to punish people who underrate us by embarking on these monumental projects that they cannot see elsewhere.

“When you have the passion to help people, God will be with you and give you the divine wisdom to actualise all your goals.

“God sees the hearts of men and it is not what men say, we politicians say, that matter but the heart which God sees.

“God will bring somebody who will take care of these projects after I leave office and ensure that they are judiciously channeled toward helping the people,” he said.

He said that the projects had not been stalled by lack of funds even for one day because he had the biblical favour of ‘when men are saying cast-down, God is saying cast-up’.

“When God sends you on a mission, He gives you the vision to accomplish it and you cannot even have a vision if you don’t have passion.

“God gave us the experience as we have done this job (construction) for more than 30 years in the private sector, complemented by God’s grace and wisdom,” he said.